Three Overreactions From Packers’ Playoff-Clinching Win Over Bears

Behind Jordan Love and his remarkable group of young pass-catchers, the Green Bay Packers are headed to the playoffs. Here are our weekly takeaways from a memorably Sunday at Lambeau Field.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are headed to the NFL playoffs, just as everyone expected five months ago.

Yeah, not so much.

It’s worth remembering that Aaron Rodgers went 6-10 in his first season as a starting quarterback. And that was while inheriting a team coming off a trip to the NFC Championship Game and with Donald Driver, Greg Jennings and James Jones providing a trio of proven receivers.

Jordan Love didn’t have those luxuries. He took over a team coming off an 8-9 season. Reliable veterans Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis were allowed to leave in free agency. In their place were a bunch of 2022 and 2023 draft picks.

And yet, here we are, with the Packers riding a three-game winning streak to a 9-8 record and a trip to the playoffs.

With that, here are this week’s Overreactions.

1. Sorry, NFC North, Packers Have Done It Again

For four years, coach Matt LaFleur and the Packers had a chance to win every game because of Aaron Rodgers. With Jordan Love, the quarterback who seems impervious to pressure, the Packers will line up next Sunday at Dallas – and for the next 100-and-some Sundays – with a chance to win every game.

“He’s just resilient,” LaFleur said. “Those are things you cannot coach. You can sit there and talk about it till you’re blue in the face. However, that’s something he possesses, and I admire him for that, his ability to stay even keel, to battle through adversity, to lead our team.

“He did an outstanding job and he’s been doing it. He’s certainly proved himself over the back half of the season. I don’t think there’s many questions left, to be honest with you. He’s just got to continue to do what he’s been doing and show up each and every day with that same mindset, and I think great things are in store for him.”

Great things, indeed.

The NFC North was formed in 2002. For most of the past two decades, the Vikings, Bears and Lions entered the season playing for second place. With Brett Favre and Rodgers, the Packers were just too dominant at quarterback.

While the Vikings must figure out what to do with Kirk Cousins, who will be coming off a torn Achilles at age 36 when training camp opens, and the Bears must decide whether to build around Justin Fields or replace him, the Packers – again – have a dominant quarterback.

It’s dangerous to think too far down the line – winning multiple Super Bowls seemed preordained after Rodgers and the Packers basked in the confetti after Super Bowl XLV in 2010 – but it’s not farfetched to ask when, not if, the Packers will win their 14th NFL championship.

Final Comparison: Love in 2023 vs. Rodgers in 2008

2. Perfect Pack, 2.0

In 2011, “The Perfect Pack” headlined the cover of a November issue of Sports Illustrated. Aaron Rodgers was surrounded by Jermichael Finley, James Jones, Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings and Randall Cobb.

That team finished with the second-most points in NFL history and Rodgers won his first MVP.

GM Brian Gutekunst has surrounded Jordan Love with a stupid amount of talent. Love finished the regular season with four consecutive games of two-plus touchdowns, zero interceptions and 109-plus passer ratings.

Without Christian Watson for any of those games.

Without Luke Musgrave for three games.

Without Dontayvion Wicks for a game-and-a-half.

Without Jayden Reed for a game-and-a-half.

Without Romeo Doubs for most of Sunday.

In the spirit of recycling, we’ll reuse a stat used a couple times. Love was 27-of-32 passing for 316 yards against the Bears. Aaron Jones caught five passes for 30 yards. The other 22 receptions for 286 yards went to players who had zero career NFL receptions entering this season.

Jayden Reed might be better today than an in-his-prime Cobb. With 64 receptions, he beat Sterling Sharpe’s franchise rookie record by nine. Among this year’s rookie receivers, he was sixth in catches, fifth in yards and second in touchdowns.

Wicks looks like a steal-of-the-century fifth-round pick. He caught 39 passes and ranked 11th in catches, ninth in yards, fourth in touchdowns and fifth in missed tackles among this year’s rookie receivers.

Musgrave, even while missing six games with a kidney injury, tied Bubba Franks’ franchise record for most catches by a rookie tight end with 34.

Tucker Kraft, who barely saw the ball during the first half of the season, is third on that list with 31 catches and second behind only Franks with 355 yards.

If Watson and the Packers can come up with solid answers to his chronic hamstring issues, this could be the greatest group of receivers in the NFL by next season.

No matter what Bears safety Jaquan Brisker says.

Bears’ Brisker Rips Packers’ Receivers; Jones Gets Last Laugh

3. Playoffs Aren’t Finish Line

The Packers are 7.5-point underdogs against the Cowboys at SI Sportsbook. As they should be. Dak Prescott probably is going to finish as runner-up for MVP. Whatever position group you look at, there’s at least one stud player.

But the Packers, to borrow a phrase from a certain coach, are “nobody’s underdog.”

The Bears over the previous five games were No. 1 in points allowed. For the season, they were No. 1 in interceptions – including five against Detroit’s Jared Goff – and No. 1 against the run.

The Packers shredded that group, the 17 points not painting the complete picture of the magnificence of Jordan Love, the running of Aaron Jones and the play of an underrated offensive line.

Yes, it’s possible Micah Parsons will ruin Green Bay’s blocking scheme and serve up another pick-six for Daron Bland. CeeDee Lamb could torch a secondary that had the good fortune of playing bad passers the last two games.

But, after essentially winning three consecutive playoff games to get into the playoffs, the Packers shouldn’t be too overwhelmed by the moment. Love is hot. Jones is hot. The defense has found its footing.

And the Cowboys, with dreams of Super Bowls dancing in their head, could feel increasing pressure the longer Love can keep the Packers in the game.

“I’ve said it so many times,” coach Matt LaFleur said, “when you go through adversity and you just keep your head down you keep working and keep sticking together and you come through it, usually you’re better for it. I think we are a calloused football team.”

Packers Report Card: High Marks in 17-9 Win Over Chicago